Save your money on the cards and get a faster CPU. EQ2 [b]LOVES[/b] CPU power. Besides, there isn't much difference in those cards /whistling.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':whistling:' /> .

Some game settings to check:
Complex Shader Distance= Lower it to improve FPS and reduce CPU usage.
Reuse Vertex Buffers= Try it out, see if it helps. Works good on my 8800GTX /thumbup.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':thumbup:' /> . Reduces studdering and skipping.
Water= Set all setting to Recommended.
Particle Effects= High (or lower), one per character, turn off the 2 check boxes for reflections.
Lighting= Turn max torches to 1, turn other lights to a max of 3, lower sliders on the others.
Shadows= Off, just off. This is [b]HEAVILY[/b] CPU dependent. Will drop a good system to it's knees.
Flora= Reduce Density and Distance for increased FPS.

Come back if that doesn't help enough or you would rather look for other options. Maybe we can see about tweaking your system a bit for more performance.

Oh, and use EQ2's ingame system monitor instead of FRAPS or anything else. Hit the F11 button.

Thanks i do seem to be getting better FPS 60 looking away from people and mid 30s looking at people better then 5 FPS hehehe. I have 4GB of memery and i only have Vista 32 bit would upgrading to 64bit help alot?.

Thanks i do seem to be getting better FPS 60 looking away from people and mid 30s looking at people better then 5 FPS hehehe. I have 4GB of memery and i only have Vista 32 bit would upgrading to 64bit help alot?.

With 64-bit you can run on MAX textures for the top 2 options and medium for the LOD textures (Texture Resolution settings). I've gotten EQ2 to use [i]2.7GB of RAM by itself[/i], not including what the OS needs. Other than that, I've found no other benefits to a 64-bit OS with EQ2 (but that is a pretty kewl reason for the 64-bit OS, MAX textures look amazing).

There are other options to speed up performance too, but some lower game play (reduce Draw Distance) or affect realizm (reduce the number of high detail characters and watch the models change as you rotate the camara /bloated.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':X' /> ). You can reduce the animation distances for more FPS.

Hit the link for my system specs. I run EQ2 mostly cranked up, full shadows and all. I hit about 40fps cruising around. 20-25 in heavily populated areas. I ran SLI for a bit, no performance boost at all. Seems the 8800GTX is more than enough card for EQ2. But the faster my OC the more FPS I get in EQ2...to a point. Instead of 100% CPU usage 100% of the time, sometimes it actually runs around 80%. With bumps to 100% when needed. Mind you, I still have several settings to max out for the CPU.

Edit: Someone is cleaning out Fallen Gate and not taking any of the loot.

With 64-bit you can run on MAX textures for the top 2 options and medium for the LOD textures (Texture Resolution settings). I've gotten EQ2 to use 2.7GB of RAM by itself, not including what the OS needs. Other than that, I've found no other benefits to a 64-bit OS with EQ2 (but that is a pretty kewl reason for the 64-bit OS, MAX textures look amazing).

There are other options to speed up performance too, but some lower game play (reduce Draw Distance) or affect realizm (reduce the number of high detail characters and watch the models change as you rotate the camara /bloated.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':X' /> ). You can reduce the animation distances for more FPS.

Hit the link for my system specs. I run EQ2 mostly cranked up, full shadows and all. I hit about 40fps cruising around. 20-25 in heavily populated areas. I ran SLI for a bit, no performance boost at all. Seems the 8800GTX is more than enough card for EQ2. But the faster my OC the more FPS I get in EQ2...to a point. Instead of 100% CPU usage 100% of the time, sometimes it actually runs around 80%. With bumps to 100% when needed. Mind you, I still have several settings to max out for the CPU.

Edit: Someone is cleaning out Fallen Gate and not taking any of the loot.